Education

Quality education is a fundamental human right. In the Philippines, however, many children are left behind. Access to quality learning, especially for the youngest learners, is limited to families with the money or opportunity.

The country is experiencing a ‘learning crisis’ that prevents children in the Philippines from achieving their full potential. Compared to countries at the same economic level, the Philippines is behind by five to six years’ worth of schooling (PISA, 2022). Furthermore, there are huge disparities within the country, with regions like the Bangsamoro falling behind others by an additional two years (UNICEF, 2024).

90 per cent of 10-year-olds cannot read a simple text (SEA-PLM, 2019)

83 per cent of 10-year-olds did not have minimum proficiency in Math (SEA-PLM, 2019)

81 per cent of 3 to 4-year-olds are not attending preschool (PSA APIS, 2022)

7 per cent (over 1.5 million) of 10 to 19-year-olds are out of school (PSA APIS, 2022)

Among the current challenges are the impacts of climate change on education, digitalization needs, and sustainable development.

The learning crisis jeopardizes the future of the entire Philippines, whose economic lifeblood and basis for a sustainable future is its young population. Without an educated citizenry and a skilled workforce, it will fail to cash in on its demographic dividend, miss out on the opportunity to strengthen its economy and society, and improve the lives of its people.

All data sources can be found at Situation of Children Philippines, unless otherwise noted.